


Touch in the Dark

by kimjibyung



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, M/M, Multi, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 10:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18247973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimjibyung/pseuds/kimjibyung
Summary: Touch in the Darkby: kimjibyungKris Wu is a vampire hunter on the search for a vampire that has been killing individuals from the undead world and the hunting community. His real identity is a secret from his roommate and best friend, Kang Yanghwa, all in an attempt to keep her clueless and safe about the underworld dangers that surrounds her. That all changes when the most recent case that comes across to Kris involves an ancient vampire that’s been around for centuries, Suho. The vampire practically runs the underworld of the undead.





	1. Chapter 1

“Kris, I left your breakfast in the microwave, I’m heading out to work now,” the brown haired lady called through the bedroom door, adjusting her bow tie and straightening out the creases of her suit. When all she got was a muffled groan as a reply, she grabbed her suitcase and headed out the door.

Kang Yanghwa was an accountant that worked for one of the city’s banks, financing records and occasionally helping out with loans and other minor tasks when an employee called out. After all the years in college finally paid off, she was able to live comfortably and enjoy the little life she’d created in the big city.

And after leaving her small hometown in the countryside and moving into the city a year ago, she’d successfully became one of the ordinary faces in the daily grind that surrounded her. Striving for love, hope, and success.

“Good morning, Katherine,” she greeted her co-worker as she made her way back to her desk to start the morning’s routine.

Yeah, life was good.

 

Kris groaned into his pillow, flipping over on his back, the streams of sunlight peeking through the thin curtains on his windows irritating him from his sleep. He was faintly awake when he heard Yanghwa knocking on his door and calling about breakfast. But glancing over at his clock beside the bed, he knew that he hadn’t been asleep that long, it wasn’t but three hours ago when he finally got in from his last night mission.

It helped that his Chief at the station was part of the hunting quarters so while Kris was out on patrol at midnight, he was being given missions and investigations to solve. All dealing with vampires that weren’t wanting to stay in their places. The underworld society walked amongst humans at night, all following laws and rules of their leader. They were allowed to roam free alongside of humans as long as they didn’t kill a living soul.

With written consent and agreement, a vampire could turn a human or just enjoy a drink from a human, but without? The vampire and newly turned human was killed, no questions asked. If a vampire didn’t have consent when drinking from a human, the vampire was killed.

It was just the way the underworld worked. For now.

The latest case that came across Kris’s desk had him scratching his head. This particular vampire was killing humans  _and_  vampires alike. Something that had never occurred in the time that Kris had been hunting vampires, in fact, none of the hunters in the community had heard of a vampire killing another vampire.

The only one that had rights to do so was the leader of the underworld, Suho, and that only happened when it was just causes for the case.

 

 _“So this monster is just taking out random humans_ and _vampires?” Kris asked, glancing over the victims’ information. They still had no leads, they didn’t have any specific motive for the killings, nothing to go on, the only information they had on the killings was the victims. He glanced up at his superior over the desk to see the man looking warily at the file in Kris’s hands._

_“It would seem like it. There’s nothing else to gather about the vampire. We don’t even know if we’re looking for a woman or man,” Minseok stated, sighing. He rubbed at his temple in frustration, “The only good thing about it is that the killings aren’t happening so frequent to where it’s drawing people’s attention… yet. But I fear that if something doesn’t stop it soon, this will start drawing more attention to the underworld.” He paused, his voice lowering into a whisper, “It’s best if humans still slept soundly at night without fear of the unknown.”_

_Kris sighed that time, “I’m not entirely convinced that the underworld will stay hidden forever.”_

_“Suho is trying to make that happen,” Minseok glared at the paperweight on his desk, the small thing that was in the shape of their hunting crest. “As Chief of Police, there’s only so much that I can stop from happening, but there’s already talks around that he wants to create new laws and new rules for his fledglings. For humans to become aware of them.”_

_“Do you think that’s even possible? Surely that would just lead to hysteria?”_

_Minseok shook his head, sighing again, “Look around you, Kris, vampires aren’t exactly seen as evil creatures like_ we _know they are. Twilight, Vampire Diaries, Anne Rice’s vampires, etc. There’s more humans out there that would give anything to interact with them, some even do with the contract consents, I doubt it would cause as much hysteria as it would’ve decades ago. And with monsters like Suho that are out there, making everything look shinier than they are, it won’t take much.”_

_Kris shrugged half-heartedly, “Maybe this case can help change that.” But even after saying those words, he cringed inwardly, there was no way that they would ever let a case like this get so far out of hand just to keep the bad guys in the shadows. If they could help it, they wouldn’t risk any innocent humans for something like it._

_“Just find the killer. I can trust you and Chanyeol to get it done.”_

 

He sighed to himself, he needed to go back to sleep for a night of hunting ahead of him tonight, but as he lied there, he replayed Minseok’s words in his head. So Suho was trying to make a world where vampires could walk with humans in the open. And Minseok was right, the mere thought of vampires now doesn’t incite the fear that it used to. With so many love stories and false tales going around about how the monsters were portrayed, humans had just developed a sick fantasy of the creatures. Nothing even close to the danger that the monsters were.

Even his best friend was tangled up in the little flicks that came on in the evenings. Surely she would be open to the thought of their existence, maybe even open to accepting them.

Kris groaned and buried his head back into his pillow, willing his mind to quieten down to sleep. For now he needed to rest so he could solve the case that had landed on his desk. Everything with Suho and the future of vampires could be put on the back-burner for the time being.

Later that evening when he finally got up out of bed, he left his room to go to the bathroom, the television in the living area was all he could hear as he emptied his bladder. Yawning loudly, he stumbled out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen, blurry making out the image of his best friend, grossly-immersed in the drama on the television. When his vision cleared, he could see the image of the actors and actresses, it was another vampire flick. The scene playing out of a vampire turning a human girl after they professed their love for one another. He rolled his eyes when he saw his best friend flail at the scene.

“That’s so gross,” Kris cringed at the scene, finding his breakfast and dinner in the microwave, tin foil covering up the plates. “You and these vampire flicks. They’re disgusting.” He moved over to the couch to sit beside Yanghwa as he started munching on his breakfast. His dinner, he’d take for work’s lunch tonight.

“Shut up, it’s not, it’s so cute,” Yanghwa replied, sparing Kris a glare before turning back to the screen. “He’d been alone for so many centuries and finally found love with the female lead, Seohyun. How is that disgusting?” She went back to snacking on her cup of yogurt.

“It’s disgusting because he’s an age-old fart that drinks blood and how isn’t this considered pedophilia? He’s centuries older than her. He’s a monster.”

Yanghwa scoffed, “He’s her age though, just… a few centuries of being her age. And he’s a good vampire, he doesn’t kill people like the evil ones in the series.”

“So what, one good vampire makes a world difference?” He stuffed more of the scrambled eggs into his mouth along with a strip of the turkey bacon.

She shrugged, “Well… he does fight the bad ones? And he’s not the only good vampire, there’s like a coven or something of good vampires in the series.”

Kris rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that’s believable.”

Her head tilted to the side, “You act like vampires are real or something? I just think the story is cute, that’s all.”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s just that falling in love with a blood sucking monster doesn’t seem like a cute little story.” Then he chuckled, seeing the male actor on the screen again, “You like the main actor, don’t you?”

“That’s Jo Jongsuk, ‘course I do,” she grinned. “Blood sucking monster or not, I’d still fall head over heels because it’s him.”

Kris laughed, “Of course.”

The scene split to a commercial, Yanghwa put her empty yogurt cup on the side table before stretching her arms over her head. Kris finished up the last of his breakfast, absentmindedly paying attention to the commercial before turning to his best friend to see the girl yawning loudly. She was already dressed down from her usual work clothes of the suit and tie, her hair up in a messy bun, little strands still dripping every so often from her shower.

He wondered if she would’ve been completely open to the idea of vampires, or even to the idea of his real life.

She turned to him, sensing his gaze on her, “Is Chanyeol going to pick you up today?”

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, he nodded, “Yeah, he should be here in about thirty minutes. I should go get dressed.”

Yanghwa flipped the television off after Kris got up to put his dish in the sink and move to his bedroom to start getting ready for work. She stood up from the couch and moved to the kitchen where she took Kris’s plate out of the microwave and started placing the food in a small container to take with him to work. She also started fixing herself up her own lunch for work tomorrow when a knock came to the front door. Chanyeol had arrived.

“Coming,” she called, moving out of the kitchen and towards the front door of their apartment, she unlocked the deadbolt and then opened the door to find the tall, brown haired male in the doorway. His police uniform on underneath a dark brown trench coat. “Hey, Chanyeol, Kris is still getting ready, but you can come in to wait.” She stepped aside to allow him in before closing the door, “You want anything to drink?”

He gave her a tired smile, “Coffee would be great if you have any.”

She smiled back, “Of course, just give me a moment,” she waved towards the dining table, “make yourself comfortable.”

As she busied herself with the coffee maker, she heard the bedroom door open on the creaky hinges, and then Chanyeol and Kris’s voices filled the dinning room. As soon as the coffee was done, she poured two cups, one for Kris and the other for Chanyeol, and walked back into the dining area.

“Two coffees,” she handed them over the coffee, “I’m going to head onto bed now, since it’s almost midnight, you two have a good night at work and stay safe,” she smiled.

Chanyeol gave her a two-finger salute, sipping away at his warm beverage, while Kris moved to kiss the top of her head, not a hard feat since she only stood up to barely his shoulder, “We always stay safe, so you can sleep well.”

 

Kris locked the apartment door before him and Chanyeol started down the hallway of the apartment building towards the front of the building where Chanyeol’s car was waiting. He stopped by his own car to grab his bag from the trunk, the bag that had all the necessary items to kill anything undead that they came across as a threat that night. Chanyeol pulled out the cross necklace from under his uniform, to where out in sight.

Nothing everything from folklore and stories was false when it came to fighting or protecting against vampires. Garlic was the only thing that was the false method. Vampires just couldn’t stand the smell, but then again, neither could Chanyeol or Kris, but vampires could withstand the herb. They couldn’t fight back against crosses or any Biblical object without coming away burned by the touch of it. Holy water would cause their skin to boil, a stake to the heart would kill it.

Sunlight was another enemy of vampires. The older the vampire, the better they stood against the sun. Someone like Suho could go out in the evenings before the sun fully sank behind the horizon, which is why most of his meetings with politicians and others was always scheduled shortly after the sun had started to set. But even the oldest of vampires still had to sleep during the day when the sun was at its highest. The younger the vampire, the more weaker they are during daylight, if they were ever caught outside in the sun, they would burn to a crisp in mere seconds.

“You ever going to confess to her?” Chanyeol’s voice finally broke the silence once they got in the car and was headed to the police station. “I mean, you guys have been best friends since you were in like, elementary school, and it’s more than obvious that you  _love_  her.” Chanyeol said  _love_ , not like, because he could see it plain as day that Kris cared deeply for the girl, there was no small fascination. And from the way that he observed Yanghwa towards Kris, it was more than obvious that the feeling was mutual.

Kris side-eyed Chanyeol before glaring out the windshield, “It’s better if she doesn’t know. I’m a hunter, Chanyeol, it’s like an unwritten rule in our entire community that we can’t involve anyone else that has no knowledge of vampires.”

Chanyeol laughed softly, “You’re all cryptic every time I say something about confessing to her. Just tell her about everything, I’m sure she’d be open to the idea.”

While that statement made Kris want to scoff and roll his eyes, he paused. The words from the conversation with Minseok running back through his head. And the proof that rose that evening when he woke up, the popular drama that Yanghwa was watching at the time. It was themed around vampires. Maybe… maybe she would be open to the idea?

He shook his head, deciding to change the subject, “So any leads or anything to work with about this new case?”

Chanyeol hummed, knowing exactly what Kris was doing, but decided to let the subject go as well,  _another time_ , “Not that I know of. I’ve checked all my sources too, and they haven’t heard anything. Some of them are a bit spooked by it, but they can’t find a connection between the victims, human and undead. It’s like the killings were completely at random.”

Kris groaned, rubbing his face in frustration, the car stopping at one of the red lights, “I’m guessing we’ll end up having to have talks with Suho. See what his take on the situation is. Do you think he’ll succeed in getting new laws made that vampires can  _openly_  walk amongst us? Humans welcoming vampires into society?” Chanyeol stayed silent at the question, pressing the gas once the light switched to green. “Would that even be a good idea or would it just send people into hysteria? Our hands might even be tied with trying to help the religious groups that’ll be against the undead, I wouldn’t blame them either.”

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol mumbled, seeming more focused on the traffic on the road.

The unusual reaction from Chanyeol didn’t escape Kris’s attention but he did quieten about the direction the conversation was going. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Chanyeol these days, he still went out on the hunt with Kris, but his heart didn’t seem to be completely in the business anymore. He was still the same crazy and vicious hunter behind that kind and friendly smile but Chanyeol seemed a bit sensitive towards the vampire subject. Especially when it came to cases where a human and vampire were involved in a secret relationship.

While Kris was concerned for his friend and partner, he’d wait until Chanyeol wanted to talk about whatever it was bothering the man.

 

The clock struck midnight inside the extravagant mansion, the politician across the desk looked over the files in his hands. In front of him, the owner of the mansion, watched him for any signs or indications of emotions that crossed the man’s face. To know whether or not they’d have a deal or not.

The man swallowed hard, closing the file after he’d reached the last line of the document, “If I do propose this law, it’ll take a lot of persuasion for the other lawmakers to vote for it.”

“Of course, and I can happily provide that, I merely wanted your opinion on it, you’ll be compensated as well, but after this law gets passed, I still want to uphold the laws and rules of consent when it comes to a vampire and human relationship, but with vampires as a part of society, we would be taxable. The cities could profit from our residency, and that’s all that really matters in these cases, isn’t it?” The glint in the being’s eyes was intimidating and speaking volumes to the man across from him, but the smile on the being’s lips was more than enough to charm the individual.

The politician shrugged, “ _Money_  does make the world go around, but what about the current case on the Chief of police’s desk? The rogue vampire that’s killing not only humans, but vampires too.”

“They’ve already got their best men on the case, I’ll even offer my services to see to it that the killer is taken care of. Nothing to worry about.”

Glancing back down at the document in his hands, the man looked back up when he heard the vampire opening his desk drawer and pulling out a thick envelope, “I can trust your word on that then, Suho, but this law might not be appropriate to propose right now, with the current case.”

Suho’s smile never faded, “I’m more than willing to wait. I’m not the one with limited time here,” he passed over the thick envelope to the man, “ _nor_  limited funds. See what you can do for now and get back to me.”

The man eyed the envelope before taking it and the document, “I’ll see what I can do.”


	2. Chapter Two

The two had made their way outside of the nightclub, back into the alleyway, intertwined with one another, lips moving against lips, hands roaming over every inch of skin. The consent between the two had been made long ago, their first night meeting one another in the club, and after the vampire offered, the human accepted. This was just a typical night for one another.

A means of release for the human and a small snack to the vampire.

The alleyway filled with gasps and moans until a small slightly pained cry escaped the human’s lips once the pair of fangs broke through the old familiar scar that adorned their neck. It always hurt the first few seconds, it’s a bite, it’s painful, and then when that cold and wet tongue runs over the pierced skin and when it starts to suck down, it’s a sudden rush of endorphins for the human, and an almost similar effect for the vampire.

The two are lost in one another in that moment.

Which is the reason why neither one of them heard the footsteps approaching, neither one knew of what dangers lied a few feet from them. Not until the long wooden stake had been driven through the vampire’s back, hitting the heart dead on, and piercing the human’s lung due to the angle from the hold of the vampire’s.

Slowly, the wooden stake was pulled from the bodies, leaving both of them falling to the wet and cold concrete of the alleyway. The human was coughing up blood, trying to gasp for air as they slowly bled to death, but the vampire was still as stone. Its heart was nothing but ash and dust in its chest, and before long, that was all its body would be.

_“Filth should be destroyed.”_

 

Minseok sighed into the receiver of the phone, “This makes two more victims to add to the list. Any identities?”

Kris was bent down, looking over the bodies of the two, Chanyeol was inspecting the surroundings. The other officers were blocking anyone from crossing the police lines while also taking statements from some of the clubbers that may have interacted with the two victims.

“The human was Kwon Yuri and the vampire was Choi Minho. There was written consent for their relationship, Chanyeol found the document in the human’s coat pocket.”

“The wounds are the same?”

“Yep, wooden stake. This time, I guess since the vampire was taller, the killer pierced the human’s lung instead of heart. She bled out,” Kris replied, one thing he had noticed with the past victims and the current ones in front of him, the attack had to be precise for the vampires. If the wooden stake had pierced just inches from the heart, the vampire might’ve been able to stand a chance against whoever attacked them. But every vampire victim, there was no signs of a sloppy attack. It was direct.

It made Kris wonder if it was just another hunter that was the killer.

Chanyeol stepped beside him, catching Kris’s attention, standing back up to his height, “No one saw anything off in the club. It was the usual clubbers. Some say they saw the two moved out the back entrance for a good time, but no one followed them out. I’m guessing someone was waiting in the alleyway for the chance to strike.”

Kris sighed in defeat, relaying the message to Minseok on the phone, “Again, _nothing_ , Minseok.”

Minseok groaned into the receiver, “I’m going to talk to Suho about this.”

Kris ended the call, pocketing his cell, motioning towards the corners to go ahead and take the bodies. They’d already pictured everything they could, and scoped out any evidence or anything out of the ordinary but nothing. A complete dead end with two more bodies added to the growing list. He and Chanyeol walked back to the police cruiser and got in.

Chanyeol cranked up and turned on the heater and the two sat there for a moment, Kris was staring at the scene not far from the car, “I know that we’re hunters, but… even we have our own rules against going after people like this. Do you think it is a hunter that’s killing these people?”

Chanyeol turned to Kris at the question, “So you were thinking the same, huh?”

Kris look at him, “The attacks, the wooden stake that’s used, the fact that it’s always precise on the vampire. Directly through the heart, not one was even the slightest bit off centered. The humans, yeah, but humans can die from a simple bleeding out or just drowning in their own blood from a pierced lung. But the vampires, it’s always through the heart.

“We just assumed it was another vampire because an average human couldn’t possibly kill a vampire without the right accessories. But why would a vampire be using a stake instead of just ripping the vampire apart?”

“…do you think it’s someone sending a message? Since the killing is done with a stake instead of just ripping them apart?”

The blonde glanced back at the area of the crime scene, “I don’t know. I’m wondering if it’s just a hunter gone rogue? Minseok told me about the possibility of Suho trying to get new laws that would allow vampires to be out in the open with humans. What if one of our own hunters caught wind of it and they’re doing something about it?”

Chanyeol hummed, his lips curling down in a frown, “It’s a possibility. Let’s contact our headquarters and see if a hunter has gone missing or if there’s been any suspicious activity from one of our own.” He put the car into gear and started pulling out of the parking space, “Honestly, wouldn’t this be a natural reaction for our community though? If they had heard the rumors of what Suho is trying to do?”

Honestly, it wouldn’t be a surprise for Kris to learn that one of their own might be out killing vampires and humans that had connections and relationships with vampires. It was something that Kris almost found himself thinking about, but he would never harm an innocent human. Not what the situation was with a vampire. He protected people, he couldn’t bring himself to hurt someone innocent.

Which one of the reasons why he joined the police force, to offer a means of protection.

He did hate vampires, he was conditioned since birth that it was their duty to fight against the creatures, that they were evil and a danger to people, and while he wasn’t happy to hear that Suho was trying to make even more laws and rules about allowing vampires to openly mingle with humans, he still wouldn’t take such drastic measures against vampires or humans.

“I could understand the reason behind it then, but still, that would be wrong on so many levels.”

Chanyeol glanced at Kris before looking back out the windshield, “If it is a hunter, I’m guessing they think if they can invoke fear into humans, maybe the new laws that Suho is trying to propose won’t pass? It would seem like something our community would try, even if our main goal is the safety of humans. Even the leader our of community, Eric Mun, has spoken before about taking whatever means necessary when it comes to a job. He’s also spoken about humans being tainted _by_ vampires.”

“Which would be the reason for all the humans being killed as well,” Kris concluded, noticing the way that Chanyeol’s hands gripped the steering wheel a little hard, but he didn’t say anything, “I’m going to talk to Minseok about this, get his opinion on it.”

Chanyeol hummed, grip easing up on the steering wheel, his knuckles weren’t as white now, “I’ll have a few officers stay behind to scope out the club, just to see if there’s any suspicious activity. With the amount of human that frequent the club, I wouldn’t doubt that it’ll be a second hit place.”

“It might be best to have all the clubs and bars that vampires have business with to be scoped and surveilled.”

 

“So you think a hunter is doing these crimes?” Minseok questioned after hearing all the theories that Chanyeol and Kris had put together.

Kris shrugged, “It would make sense, the attacks, the use of the stake, precise aim for the vampire’s heart. It would take someone that knew what they were doing to be able to pierce a vampire’s heart like that.”

“Except the first two humans victims were found to be drained, the marks of a vampire’s bite,” Minseok reminded Kris. The first two human cases that were discovered, both humans had been bitten and drained by a vampire, they weren’t occupied by a vampire either when they were discovered. Although the next two victims after the humans was two vampires. Both killed with a stake to the heart. The only thing that was missing was any evidence connecting the two humans and the two vampires.

Kris had forgotten about the first two human victims, honestly, he hummed, “A vampire that’s trying to pose as a hunter then?”

Minseok rubbed his face, sighing to himself, “I don’t know. That’s the thing about this case, no one knows anything. It’s like the killer blends in with the crowd enough to not draw attention and then disappears without any trace to trail after them. If it is a vampire trying to pose as a hunter, that would draw negative attention towards our own community—”

“It’s starting to draw negative attention towards the vampire community too. Humans are dying because of this killer,” Kris groaned, “I’m drawing up blanks here, Minseok. Chanyeol wants to put officers on surveillance at the club that was just attacked, and I want officers through the city, everywhere that there’s vampire activity.”

Minseok nodded, “For now, that seems to be all that we can do. I’ll set everything up, hopefully we’ll find something.”

 

One thing that Kris almost looked forward to every week was the day that Friday rolled around, the weekend was his, he’d requested to Minseok when he started the night shift to have the weekends off. And since Yanghwa worked a typical nine-to-five job, she had the weekends off, with the occasional Saturday work, but that was once a month. The two of them spent most of Saturday on the couch, snacking, and binge watching their favorite cartoons that they used to watch back when they were children.

After the week that Kris had of coming up with no leads, no connections, nothing more than three extra victims added to the list, it was just the day off that he needed to get his mind off everything. In the back of his mind, he was still aware that there was a killer out there, but when he looked over at his best friend popping popcorn into her mouth and tears in her eyes from laughing so hard at the age-old comedy of the cartoons, it was more than enough to keep that worry pushed to the furthest part of his mind. It was just one of the small moments.

Yanghwa took a deep breath, fanning her red face, “How is it that the same cartoons that we saw as children are still as hilarious as they used to be? If not more?”

Kris shrugged, trying to bite back the grin on his face, honestly, he didn’t know, the shows were funny, but he didn’t deem them that hilarious, “I don’t know. I think your sense of humor is still like a child’s.”

Yanghwa scoffed, smiling, “You don’t think they’re as funny?”

“Entertaining, yeah,” Kris replied, slumping down on the couch, “They are funny.”

She reached over and ruffled his hair, “How’s the case going? You seemed pretty stressed the last few nights when you woke up.”

Kris sighed wearily, leaning his head against her shoulder and closing his eyes, “It’s not going anywhere. Just more victims being added to the list, but there’s no connection between any of the victims, no clues at the crime scenes and nothing at all that could even lead to the killer.”

“That’s odd,” Yanghwa hummed, “I can understand why that would leave you stressed. They were talking about some of the people that were killed at work this week. It was strange, some were saying the person was stabbed in the heart with a wooden weapon… it made me think of a vampire hunter or something. Which I found odd since it’s like, vampires aren’t real, you know?” She took a sip of her drink, still focused on the television.

Kris moved up from leaning on her shoulder and took a glance at her. He knew that the reports that were released on the news were about human victims, the vampires were passed off as humans. It was the way that Suho had designed it with the media outlets and the police records. Everything in the records that Kris had, the vampires were written off as humans. Only the elite officers, select and few, knew the details about the _special_ victims. Minseok worked it out on the police force that every officer that knew of vampires was a hunter or had hunter relations.

Looking at Yanghwa’s confused face, he wondered how she would accept the idea of vampires being real. But the more that he thought about it, the more he believed it’d be a lot safer for her to not know of their existence. A person like Yanghwa, innocent and naïve, couldn’t possibly handle the dirty and scary truths of some things in the world.

“Yeah, it’s one of the weirdest cases that I’ve worked with. Makes me wonder if our killer is addicted to the vampire shows on,” Kris joked, but it fell flat. She rolled her eyes, but he knew she was going to defend her current favorite series. “Just kidding, but it does seem like it’s something to do with vampires. That’s the only explanation I can think of since the victims are killed with a wooden stake.”

“Chanyeol hasn’t come up with anything either?”

The mention of his partner brought back his curiosity of his partner’s behavior. The way that Chanyeol seemed like a different person to him, he was still his partner, still a mastermind at crime scenes and an almost bloodhound when it came to finding their killer, but there was something different about the brown haired man.

“Chanyeol… he seems weird lately. He’s working on the case too, but it doesn’t seem like his heart is in it,” it was more like he wasn’t in the hunting business anymore, but Kris kept it vague. It did seem like Chanyeol’s head was elsewhere.

She turned to him, eyebrow raised at the statement, “He seems normal to me. At least from what I can tell when he comes to pick you up in the evening.”

He shrugged, “It just seems like his head is elsewhere. He’s distant.”

The smile that crossed Yanghwa’s lips wasn’t the reaction that Kris believed he would get, but the smile held an amused and almost teasing touch to it, “His head is elsewhere… you think he’s seeing someone?”

That reply had Kris pausing. He didn’t know if Chanyeol was dating anyone, it hadn’t came up in conversation. If anything, the only thing that Chanyeol talked about when it came to a relationship subject, was the constant teasing and questioning to Kris about Yanghwa and when he was going to state claims on her. Which Kris brushed off every time.

Chanyeol never mentioned even meeting anyone that had sparked his interest..

“He hasn’t said anything about seeing anyone…” Kris mumbled, wondering if that was the case now. It could be the possibility.

“Ask him next time you see him,” she suggested, “I bet he’s seeing someone.” She moved up to stretch out her arms and a yawn fell from her lips, “You should find someone too, Kris, we aren’t getting any younger.”

He glanced at her, he hadn’t found anyone for himself, there was only Yanghwa for him. They were only roommates, best friends, but she was who he came home to every morning, and who he bid a good night every evening. “I’m too busy right now for anyone… what about you?”

She reached for the popcorn on the side table, shaking her head, “I’ve had a few customers that hit on me but I’m just not interested right now.”

 

 _“I’m just not interested right now.”_ Those words were the best thing he could’ve used when it came to Chanyeol’s pestering questions and teasing about confessing to Yanghwa. But it also made him wonder if there was a reason why she wasn’t interested right now. He knew that during college, all that she cared about was getting a passing grade and studying to be the best in class. Something that Kris was envious of about her. She was smart when she put her mind to anything she wanted to accomplish.

Kris was lucky enough to have her helping him get through the minor courses through college to end up at the police force. It was already a straight shot for him to get into the police force with the connections that the hunting community had with the police department in Seoul, but he still had to put forth the effort and get the grades.

Chanyeol blew into his hands after he had cranked up the car, waiting for the heater to start warming up the cabin of the cruiser, he glanced over at Kris to see the man putting on his seatbelt. “Yanghwa always seems like she’s in a good mood on Sunday nights. Almost as if she’s looking forward to going into work in the morning.”

Kris shrugged, “She loves her job.”

“I’ll give her a few years and then she’ll be like the rest of us. Ready for retirement,” he put the car into gear and started out of the parking space, heading towards their stakeout area for that night.

Kris glanced over at him, the conversation between him and Yanghwa running through his head, “Are you seeing someone?” The question caught Chanyeol off guard, he almost slammed on brakes, his head whipping towards Kris, “I was just wondering, your head seemed to be somewhere else lately. Yanghwa suggested it, I’m just asking.”

Chanyeol’s eyes were wide before he turned his attention back to the road, quiet, but his grip had tightened on the steering wheel. Kris noticed the change, “It’s okay if you are, Chanyeol? I’m not sure why you wouldn’t tell your partner though, I could go ahead and congratulate you on it… if you’d told me.”

It was still quiet in the cruiser as Kris waited for some kind of clarification or something, until finally, Chanyeol spoke up, “I didn’t intend… on it getting any further than it did, but there was something about him. I couldn’t help myself.”

Kris’s eyes widened at that, “ _Him_?” Then he smiled, “Is that why you didn’t tell me about them? Because it’s a guy? Geez, Chanyeol, I thought you would’ve known me better than being a homophobic prick. You know about my little college experiments. You knew about Luhan.”

Luhan was Kris’s college crush, aside from Yanghwa. A few drunken nights had found the two intertwined in bed more than Kris had intended, but they’d had something going on there for almost two years in college. It was kept a secret due to the views of some people, but Chanyeol knew about it. Kris had talked about it before during certain conversations. Kris wasn’t exactly straight, but he wasn’t gay either. He liked what he liked, that was all. Through their time together in the police force, Kris and Chanyeol had learned about each other, it just came with the ‘partners’ title. Which is why Chanyeol joked with Kris about Yanghwa so much.

Chanyeol shifted in his seat, adjusting the seatbelt on him, “It’s just something that… happened. I had gone to him for questioning about one of the recent cases, the one that happened the other night outside of that nightclub, and we kind of solidified our like for one another?” The coloring of Chanyeol’s ears was more than enough for Kris to understand what happened between the two. “We had met a few times before that though, and it was just teasing. Mostly on his behalf about my big ears,” Chanyeol finished with a grin.

Kris smiled back, “It looks like he makes you really happy.”

Glancing over at Kris, Chanyeol couldn’t keep the grin off his face, but there was a still a hesitance in Chanyeol’s gaze, almost as if he were withholding something about his current love interest, but he still didn’t say anything else other than, “He does make me really happy. I haven’t met someone like him in a long time… especially in our line of work. I can’t exactly go out and meet someone while working the graveyard shift. The last person I had hanging around was just for… stress relief.”

Kris shrugged, yeah, he understood that. Since he left college, that was left behind him. It was a bit hard to bring someone home with him when he had Yanghwa in the bedroom right next to his. Granted with their shift schedules, he could bring someone home in the morning after Yanghwa went to work, but it wouldn’t sit well with Kris. He’d feel guilty just for eyeing someone at work or out on the street.

“What’s his name? You’ll have to let me meet him one day, see who has my partner all smiles and sunshine lately.”

Chanyeol’s face flamed at that, but he still couldn’t fight off the grin on his face, “Baekhyun. And maybe one day, I’ll let you meet him. He stays busy almost all the time, especially now, so I’m lucky to even get to spend time with him.”

“I’ll hold you to it then. Is he shorter than you?”

“Of course,” Chanyeol laughed, “Barely comes up to my shoulder, but not everyone is graced with our tall height.”

 

The black limousine pulled up at the front of the nightclub, _Red Carnation_ , the last club that was involved in an attack. The driver’s door opened, a small and slim pale being dressed in a black suit got out and moved to the back door to open it with a bow. A being, almost the same height, dressed in a similar black suit, but had a little more flash to it, exited the back door, and started heading into the club. He paused just as he was about to enter to glance around at the streets around the club. When he seemed satisfied with his surroundings, he entered the building.

Once he stepped foot inside the noisy and bass-throbbing building, everybody in his way parted, providing him no push and shove as he made his way back to the VIP section of the club. Outlined by red velvet rope, two leather couches and a center table was all the VIP section consisted of. No one else was there.

He sat down, signaling to the waitress for a drink, looking out at the crowd around him. Everything went back to the normal setting once he’d gotten seated. People dancing, people conversing, people being led to the back rooms for whatever services they wanted, and some of his own were at the bar, discussing to new clients about the services they provide.

This club, amongst others throughout the city, were all owned by him, allowing his kind to indulge and allowing humans to get a taste of the darker things in life. All abiding by his laws and rules, and if anyone stepped out of line, they were dealt with accordingly.

It wasn’t a rarity that he visited his different clubs throughout the night, but this one was the last one involved in one of the attacks, and he wanted to find the killer as soon as possible. So he sat there, sipping his drink, watching for any signs of any abnormal activity.

“Suho,” his bodyguard, Kai, called, appearing by his side with the list of everyone that was attending that night in the club. “There’s no new names on the list tonight either. There wasn’t any new names on the list from that night either.”

Suho took the list from Kai, thanking him, before glancing over it, “I’m guessing the killer must’ve just waited outside like a fucking hawk.” He sighed, rubbing his temple, turning his glance back out at the crowd, his eyes glowing red in the strobe lights flashing throughout the club, he knew everyone that had the right hearing was listening to every word he said. He looked over at Kai, “You and Chen are going to watch the exits tonight. If anyone wants to get frisky tonight with their clients or partners, there’s rooms for that. No need to go outside for that.”

“If the person shows up, should we kill them or just detain him?” Kai asked.

“Detain, I want to know who’s causing all these problems.”

“Understood, sir.”


	3. Chapter Three

It was cliché to meet up in a graveyard with an undead being but this was the spot that the two met up with one another on the nights that Chanyeol didn’t have to work. This Saturday night, in the chilling cold, Chanyeol was bundled up in his dark brown trench coat and a red scarf. He’d tucked away his crucifixion into his pocket to keep it from harming his lover, although Baekhyun had told him countless times that he was old enough to not be affected by the necklace.

The vampire just a century younger than Suho, he was also Suho’s first child that was sired.

“Chanyeol, you’re finally here,” Baekhyun stepped up to him from the small stone bench that rested near the larger monuments of the graveyard. The two embraced one another, Chanyeol burying his nose into the dark red locks of Baekhyun’s hair, his body practically melting in his lover’s strong hold. Baekhyun was cold to the touch, even pressed against Chanyeol with clothes separating them, he could feel the coldness of his body.

Unlike Chanyeol, Baekhyun was just in a pair of black slacks, a silk blood-red long-sleeve shirt, and a long tailed blazer. He wasn’t affected by the cold at all.

Baekhyun noticed the way that Chanyeol’s body seemed to melt against him, he could sense the tension fading from the human’s arms, his breath evening out. “You’ve been stressed,” Baekhyun noted, voice muffled against the coat where his head was pressed against Chanyeol. “Just relax.”

Chanyeol was quiet for a moment, before sighing, “We still haven’t gotten any leads on the killer. I was worried about you, about myself, about us… I can’t let anything happen to you.”

Baekhyun pulled back to flash him a toothy grin, “You act like I can’t take care of myself. I beat you, didn’t I, _hunter_?”

Yeah, now that Chanyeol thinks back to their first encounter, Baekhyun did beat Chanyeol in a bit of a humiliating defeat. It was just a misunderstanding, Chanyeol thought Baekhyun hadn’t gotten consent for the feeding he was doing on a human when Chanyeol approached them. It didn’t help that the human had forgotten the consent document in their other pants’ pocket, and Baekhyun did hightail it out of the club upon the lack of evidence of a consent document.

Chanyeol chased after him. And when he caught up with Baekhyun, the two threw punches, kicks, and fought against one another until finally being interrupted by the human showing up after finding the document. Which was a good thing since Baekhyun had Chanyeol in a strangling hold, about to end the hunter’s life.

Ever since that moment, the two seemed to drift back towards one another here and there until it all evolved into what it was now. A relationship, a security in one another.

“Yeah, you did beat me…” Chanyeol smiled softly, pulling Baekhyun back into his embrace, just wanting to hold the male. “But still, I can’t let anything happen to you. We don’t even know where to look or what we’re looking for now. It could be another hunter, it could be a vampire, it could be a vampire posing as a hunter or vice versa. We just don’t know.”

Baekhyun’s hands rubbed up and down Chanyeol’s back, to try and ease the tension in the hunter’s body, feeling Chanyeol’s grip tighten on him. He knew that Chanyeol was worried about him, but Baekhyun knew he would be safe. He was checking behind himself all the time, keeping an eye out for any odd behavior that might be around him.

“You want to head on back to my crypt? I can help get your mind off everything,” Baekhyun suggested with a small wink.

Chanyeol couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face at the sight of Baekhyun’s little wink, he slipped his hand into the cold one, “Lead the way.”

Baekhyun happily intertwined their fingers, leading them out of the graveyard and towards the mansion not far from the area.

What they didn’t know was that someone had been lurking in the shadows, silent and deadly, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

\--

“So you’re telling me that your best man on the case thinks that it’s a hunter doing all these attacks?” The vampire asked before across Minseok’s desk. It looked like such an oddity to have one of the richest persons in the whole city sitting across a little police chief’s desk, especially decking in one of the most expensive suits that probably costed more than Minseok’s salary, but there he was. Suho.

Minseok glanced down at the files on his desk of all the victims of the attacks, “He said with the fact that every stake that’s been used in the attacks are used with exact precision, that he believes it’s a hunter, or it could even be a vampire posing as a hunter.”

Suho didn’t look that convinced but then he reached out a hand, “The files, please.” He knew that Minseok would refuse them to him since they were police records, not politicians, but this involved Suho’s own people, and that meant it involved him. It _was_ his business. “It’s my people that’s dying here, Minseok, give me the files.”

The Chief scowled at the being before handing the files over, “I know it’s your people dying but it’s my department that’s handling the investigation.”

“And I am more than willing to help out in any way possible, but I can’t do that if I’m left out of the investigation and what your best man thinks of the situation.” Suho grabbed the files and flipped through them, briefly skimming over all the information, “And he thinks it’s a hunter or a vampire posing as a hunter? How do I know the hunting community didn’t just put up someone to the job so that it would ruin my community’s chance at becoming part of society?”

Minseok scowled, knowing exactly where Suho was going. Especially since Minseok himself was a member of the hunting society. “We wouldn’t do something like that. We _protect_ the people.”

“You, hunters, protect _humans_ , get it right,” Suho waved off, closing the files, “You wouldn’t do a damn thing for my kind.”

“Excuse me, but I have my best man looking into this and he’s concerned for both your kind _and_ humans,” Minseok retorted, a permanent scowl on his face now, one to which Suho just rolled his eyes at. “We are concerned about this, Suho, I may be part of the hunting community, but before any of that, I am in charge of serving and protecting _my_ city. That includes all walks of life and your kind is part of that.”

Suho stared at the man across the desk for a moment, almost as if he were trying to detect the lie or deception but Minseok showed none. His heartbeat picked up, but it had already picked up when he first glared at Suho and it hadn’t changed in pace, Suho could hear it. He couldn’t detect any lies coming from the man. To which the vampire was inclined to believe him.

He returned his attention to the files, skimming over the last page, he didn’t miss the way that Minseok had took a sigh of relief, his being trying to calm down, he closed the files, “I want to meet your best man,” before Minseok could open his mouth to reply, Suho continued, “I’d like to personally work with him on finding this killer, and I am more than willing to comply with anything the police force requires of me. I already have my own people looking for this individual. It’d be best to get everyone on the same page.”

Well, Minseok couldn’t argue with that, taking back the files from Suho, “Since today is Thursday, Kris will be out of here before you get the chance to meet him tonight, but I can—”

“Give me his address and I’ll make a personal house call. I don’t mind. I wake in the evenings at seven anyway.”

Minseok wanted to argue that he couldn’t just hand out his officers’ information like that to just anyone, but this was Suho. If anything, he could give Kris a heads-up that the vampire would pay him a visit. He sighed, pulling up Kris’s information on his computer, and reading off the address. “But I think I should remind you that he is a hunter too, one that doesn’t have a strong liking to vampires either.”

Suho rolled his eyes, “So should I worry that he’ll try to kill me just for visiting him?”

“I’m not saying that, but just… he’s very protective of his roommate and she is clueless about your kind’s existence. I respect his wishes that he’d like to keep it like that.”

Resisting the urge to chuckle, Suho shook his head, “Fine, he’s a hunter that lives with an ignorant girl, I’m more than respectful when it comes to innocent civilians. What he does in his private life doesn’t concern me. Give me his address and tell him when to expect me.”

Minseok sighed in frustration, picking up a pen and a piece of paper, writing down Kris’s address, “When should I tell him to expect you?”

“Soon.”

With that, Suho stood up, bowed slightly, and was out of the door before Minseok could call after him.

\--

It was Sunday evening when Kris had stepped out of the apartment to make a quick run to the local store for some eggs and some garlic for the small meal that he and Yanghwa were preparing. She had gotten the recipe from one of her co-workers and the two decided to give it a try at making it. The whole weekend, he had been reluctant to leave the apartment due to the call he got from Minseok about a possible visit from the ancient vampire, Suho, but they needed the ingredients and Kris couldn’t come up with any other excuse to use without flat out telling Yanghwa the truth, so there he was in the long line at the store with just two items. A dozen of eggs and a package of fresh garlic.

Yanghwa was busy with chopping up the vegetables and adding them to the stir-fry mix in the frying pan when there came a knock to the door. She wondered who was visiting at the time, it was almost eight o’clock at that evening. She wondered if maybe Kris had forgotten his keys but that was one thing she reminded him of before he left and she heard the jingle of the keys clicking together when he picked them up.

She stepped away from the stove, wiping her hands on the kitchen towel, exited the kitchen area to step up to the door. She unlocked the door and opened it, surprised to see a short, black haired man. He was dressed in an expensive looking cream-colored suit, hair slicked back, and one thing Yanghwa noticed was that he looked extremely pale, his eyes were a bit darker than normal.

“Can I help you?” She asked.

The man bowed slightly, glancing towards the inside of the apartment, before looking back at the short girl with her brown hair up in a messy bun and wearing a pink apron, “I’m looking for Kris Wu, I was told this is where he lives?”

She nodded, “Yeah, he stepped out to the store for a quick trip, he should be back soon. Are you a client or friend of his?” Kris hadn’t mentioned any rich looking guy being a friend of his, Yanghwa thought, but then again, she didn’t know all of his friends either.

The man cracked a smile slightly at the friend remark, “I’m a friend of a friend, a friend of his boss, Police Chief Kim Minseok. Forgive me for not introducing myself, I’m Kim Junmyeon, I had some matters to talk to Kris about.”

Yanghwa was about to reply when she heard the oil in the pan that was frying sizzling, she turned back to Junmyeon with wide eyes, waving him in, “Come on in, I’ll be right back, you caught me in the middle of cooking.”

As she dashed back towards the kitchen area of the apartment, turning off the heat to the stove, Junmyeon hesitated at the doorway. He was now able to enter the home, she’d given the invitation, and from what Minseok told him, she didn’t know exactly what she’d just allowed into her home. One of the old clichés around vampires were that they couldn’t enter a home without being invited, and it was a true saying. No matter how strong the vampire was, they couldn’t enter a _home_ uninvited.

He spared a glance at his bodyguard that was by the entrance to the hall, Kai, and then turned back to the apartment home, stepping foot into the home and closing the door behind him. He looked around at the interior, it was obvious that there was a woman’s touch to everything, the flowers and flower vases that decorated here and there, the bright colors. He wondered what exactly the relationship between Kris Wu and this woman was, if it really were just a mere friendship.

Junmyeon returned his gaze to the woman behind the kitchen island that separated the dining room from the kitchen, her back was turned as she busied herself with saving whatever she was frying. He stepped up to the kitchen island, a sweet scent filling his nose, but he was sure it wasn’t from whatever she was cooking. He smelled it when she answered the door too. Something that smelled like a bergamot blossom… but with a citrus scent. It smelled like happiness...

She glanced back, surprised to see him watching her, “Sorry about that, I was in the middle of cooking when you knocked and forgot to turn off the heat.” She moved the pan over to one of the eyes of the stove that wasn’t warm to let the food cool then turned back to him. She held out her hand to him for a handshake, “So you’re Kim Junmyeon?” He nodded, about to slip his hand in hers, “I’m Kang Yanghwa, Kris’s roommate and best friend.”

He returned her handshake, opening his mouth to reply until her eyes widened when their hands touched, he knew what she’d noticed, his cold hands, his ice cold hands. He could feel the warmth from hers.

“Your hands are so cold, are you okay? I know it’s cold outside… and you aren’t wearing a coat either… are you asking for the flu?” She tsked like a worried parent, the only difference was she didn’t have her hands on her hips.

He had to bite back the smile, “Uh, no, it’s, uh… a condition. I don’t feel the coldness, and my hands are always cold.” Her eyes widened in sympathy. It was the only lie he could come up with. He smiled in reassurance, “It’s okay though, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry.”

“Okay…” she trailed off, looking like she wanted to say more or offer something to warm him, but decided against it, “well, if you’re here for Kris, do you want to stay and talk about whatever you want over dinner? It’s pretty late in the evening, have you eaten yet?”

He glanced at the frying pan behind her on the stove then back to her, “If the food was salvageable?”

She turned back to the frying pan, the vegetables were a little singed, but she’d gotten to them in time to take them off the heat, “Yeah, I just have to wait until Kris comes back with the eggs and garlic to finish up the dish. I promise you that I won’t give you food poison if that’s your concern,” she added sheepishly, glancing back at the frying pan of vegetables.

He laughed softly, knowing it wouldn’t affect him either way. “Alright, I wouldn’t mind staying for dinner.”

 

Kris noticed the dark skinned vampire immediately once he stepped foot onto the hall of the apartment building, he was dressed neatly, and he looked like he was waiting for someone. When he saw Kris, the vampire bowed to him, and seemed to know exactly what Kris was. He didn’t take a defensive stance against Kris, but he did seem a bit more tense now.

“Kris Wu? My boss, Suho, is waiting for you in your apartment.”

That had Kris’s eyes widening, he quickly made his way past the vampire and towards his apartment building, throwing open the door, and pausing as soon as he entered when he found his roommate sitting on the couch beside a neatly dressed _vampire_ , Suho; both were watching the drama that Yanghwa watched every evening when it came on. The vampire one with Jo Jongsuk.

Yanghwa turned back towards him when she heard the door open, “Kris, you’re back!” She was already up and coming towards him to take the bag of the needed items. “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited your friend to have dinner with us. He said he was a friend of your Chief’s. Kim Junmyeon.”

Kris’s eye twitched at that, his gaze returning to the vampire’s to find the being now standing beside the couch, a slight expression of amusement on his face. But Kris was confused at the name. He’d only heard the vampire being called Suho, everyone knew him as Suho, no one had ever spoken of someone named Kim Junmyeon… unless the vampire was using it as a cover for Yanghwa.

Minseok had told Kris that he let Suho know that Yanghwa didn’t know anything about vampires. And seeing as the vampire was in their living area, it was just shit-luck that Yanghwa had unknowingly invited the blood-sucking fiend into their home now.

“I don’t mind…” Kris trailed off, smiling at Yanghwa before she went to the kitchen area to finish up the dish. He locked gazes with Suho, “Um, _Junmyeon_? Can I talk to you for a moment in my room?” He glanced over at Yanghwa, “No offense, Yanghwa, but we have a small matter to discuss in private… police business.”

She rolled her eyes, waving him off, “Whatever, _Officer_ Wu. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”

Kris turned back to Suho, guiding him into his bedroom, the amusement never left Suho’s face, especially when he entered Kris’s room and spotted the small brown teddy bear on the man’s bed. Adorned around the bear’s neck was a blue bowtie. It looked like a child’s bear, and he wondered if it was Kris’s bear from childhood due to the wear-and-tear of it.

But while Suho was scoping out Kris’s room, the hunter actually took a moment to look over the vampire. When he heard about the vampire from Minseok, he had expected a middle-aged man that had ceased aging but he’d imagined someone a bit… uglier? Vampires did seem to have a charm to them, but to Kris, they always looked like something you’d like in the morgue. Suho was anything but that, he showed his youthfulness, his skin flawless, his hair neat, his suit still looked it had been pressed even though he had been chilling on the couch with Yanghwa when Kris came home. Suho was… handsome, breathtakingly beautiful. _Like Luhan was._

“I believe Chief Kim has informed you that I would be making a visit to your home?” Suho asked as he took a seat on the edge of the unmade bed, crossing his legs.

Kris scoffed, keeping his voice low, “He did, but I thought him _or_ you would’ve given me a little heads-up about _when_ your visit would be. I could’ve sent Yanghwa out or something.”

Suho hummed, “I could’ve but I was already in the neighborhood and figured I’d see if you were in. She’s a sweet girl, invited me right into her home, and even offered me dinner. So clueless as to what she just let into your home.”

Kris scowled, “You touch one hair on her head and I’ll kill you myself.”

“I’m not a fiend, _Wu_ ,” the vampire glared, eyes tinting red now, “I’m merely stating that I find it odd how a vampire hunter as yourself would willingly leave the woman of his interest in the dark about the dangers of the outside world.”

“She’s… she’s fragile, I’d rather not expose her to it. It’s just a good thing that she stays in at night and only goes out when your kind is sleeping in their graves.”

“With the laws I have in place for my kind, she’s perfectly safe.”

“Except for whatever is killing people now,” Kris added, causing Suho’s eyes to narrow.

“Which is why I’ve come to pay you a visit. Your Chief says that you think it’s a hunter that’s killing humans and my kind? Or a vampire that’s posing as a hunter?”

Kris sighed, shrugging, “It’s what my partner and I believe, it could be either. But with the attacks being precise enough to pierce the heart of a vampire’s _every time_ , I’ve only seen that accuracy in a hunter’s strikes.”

“And the humans just being a bonus for the kills?” Suho questioned.

“The humans had connections with the vampires. After doing some more digging, it turns out the human victims had the documents of consent in their possession. From the information that I’ve gathered… as much as I hate to say it, it could be hate crimes against vampires and humans that have association with vampires.”

Suho was quiet at that, and Kris continued, “Minseok told me about the laws that you were going to propose to get passed. The laws that would allow vampires into society as members. As much as I don’t want to go against my own beliefs and organization as a hunter, I can’t stop thinking that this is a poly created by my own people that’s trying to detour your laws from getting passed.”

Suho’s eyes flickered red for a second, “I thought that same thing when Kim Minseok was telling me about your idea that it was a hunter doing these things. He clarified to me that a hunter would never put a human’s life at risk, nor willing take a human’s life. You people have no quarrels at all at killing my kind, but a human? You’d spare their life—”

“That’s why I’d hate to think it was one of our own members of the organization killing humans too. We weren’t taught that. _I_ wasn’t taught that… as much as I was taught to hate your kind from birth, the laws _are_ different. Your laws that you set in place have changed that… it’s the reason why I only hunt rogue vampires that _don’t_ follow your rules.”

“A hunter wouldn’t take drastic measures to ensure my new laws wouldn’t get passed? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Suho questioned.

Kris sighed, taking a seat on his bed beside Suho, a small space between them, “It wouldn’t make sense to me that they would, but it does seem like the case. But the only problem is that no one at our organization has said anything about a hunter going rogue.”

“Unless someone’s lying or they’re just keeping others in the dark.”

Well, that thought had crossed Kris’s mind, but he wanted to try and put a little faith in the organization of hunters. They weren’t all just but they did take their jobs seriously, especially when it came to protecting humans. And no one would kill a human, even if they had connections to a vampire.

Suho turned to him, “I told Minseok that I am more than willing to help you in any matters that you need my assistance. I have my own people looking for this individual as well, and I want us all on the same page.”

“The more the merrier,” Kris muttered, reaching over to his bedside cabinet and pulling out a stack of files from one of the drawers. He handed them to Suho, “This is the copies of the information that we’ve already gotten and notes that my partner and I have added. You can keep them and go over them.”

The vampire glanced up at Kris before taking the files, “You’re giving this over to me a lot easier than your Chief did with the ones he had at his office.”

Kris’s eyebrow rose, “Like I said, the more the merrier. I’m more concerned with getting this killer than you knowing about our business, you’re already offering to help in an investigation that we should be able to handle on our own but we haven’t had any luck.”

Suho stared at him for a moment before his gaze lowered to the files, “I expected more of a fight from you, Kris, honestly.”

Kris opened his mouth to reply until a knock came to the bedroom door, Yanghwa peeked in, “Food’s ready, guys, sorry if I’m interrupting but I don’t want it to get cold.”

 

It was the oddest thing to Kris to see the vampire across from him eating the scrambled-egg stir-fry that Yanghwa finished up. While Kris was enjoying the food even though the vegetables were a tad bit crispy, the meal wasn’t bad. Around Yanghwa, Suho was like a different person. A lot more polite, a lot more kind. Although after the small talk in Kris’s room with Suho, the vampire didn’t seem as hostile towards Kris.

“So did you guys get your police business sorted out?” Yanghwa asked, taking another bite of her food, glancing back and forth between Suho and Kris.

Suho glanced over at Kris before answering, “In a way.”

She looked over at Kris, “Are you going to catch that killer that everyone at the office is talking about?” She turned back to Suho, “Junmyeon, are you helping with that investigation?”

“I am,” Suho replied, “I own a few of the clubs that some of the victims had been found, and I don’t want a bad reputation to linger around them so I volunteered to help out the police in any help that I can provide.”

Yanghwa looked amazed at that, then her gaze ran over his suit again, “That’s amazing that you own clubs… I thought from your clothes, you must be someone important. And it’s nice of you to help Kris with his investigation. He’s been so frustrated at the lack of progress in catching this person.” She placed down her chop-sticks, “The way my coworkers talk about the killer, it does scare me that they’re still on the loose.”

Kris reached over to grab her hand to comfort her but Suho quickly spoke up, “I can understand that it does sound like a scary thought of this killer, but I’ll do whatever it takes to help keep you safe.” Suho smiled slightly, glancing at Kris, “I’m sure Kris won’t let anything happen to you either.”

 

Once Suho left after dinner was over, Kris was helping Yanghwa with the dishes, the two fell into a comfortable silence as he washed the dishes and she dried and put them away. When the last dish was washed and dried, the two sat down on the couch and flipped on the television to relax for the rest of the night. Yanghwa pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to cuddle up in while Kris pulled his feet up to stick his feet under the blanket.

“Junmyeon seems nice,” Yanghwa commented after the first commercial break.

Kris looked over at her, cocking an eyebrow upwards, “Do you like him?”

Yanghwa’s eyes widened and a blush tinted her cheeks, “He’s very handsome, don’t you think?”

Kris had to admit that Suho was handsome, like Yanghwa said, and it wasn’t hard to think that a woman would feel an attraction towards a man like Suho either. Kris couldn’t help feeling an attraction towards the vampire, Suho wasn’t what he had expected when Minseok told him that Suho was going to pay him a visit. He was still expecting a snotty little prick. And while the first part of their conversation had been snarky, the two did end up on the same page by the end of it. Minseok had warned that the vampire acted like a prick towards him, and while Kris wasn’t exactly keen on having a vampire visitor, the visit wasn’t as bad as Kris thought it’d be.

“He’s not bad on the eyes.”

“But he seems surreal, doesn’t he? He’s a politician or some rich guy, isn’t he?” Yanghwa questioned, cuddling up further into the blanket, her head coming to rest on Kris’s shoulder.

“He is loaded, yeah, and he’s into politics.”

She glanced up at him from where her head was resting on his shoulder, “Is it just the clubs as the reason for him volunteering to help out with the case?”

Kris shrugged with the other shoulder that she wasn’t resting on, it was the reason that Suho had given her at dinner that evening, “It’s just a concern of his. I mean, if people are getting killed at his clubs, it would hurt his business.”

“That’s true,” she hummed, “You’ll catch the killer though, right?”

Kris nodded, “I will.”

“Be careful though, whoever this person is, they seem really dangerous.”

He pecked the top of her head, “I’m always careful, don’t worry about that.”

\--

“So you got a visit from the infamous Suho?” Chanyeol asked as they staked out one of the clubs that night on patrol. “And he met Yanghwa? I bet she fell head over heels for him, didn’t she?”

Kris glared at his partner, glancing back at the people being checked before entering the club entrance, “No, she didn’t. She said he was good looking but even I thought that—”

“I figured since she had a thing for vampires on the television then she would’ve liked him.”

Kris shook his head, “The only vampire she has a thing for is Jo Jongsuk, and that’s just because of him acting as a vampire. That’s her favorite actor, she’d love him even if he were a hobo or something.”

“Then what about you? I’ve heard Suho is very handsome, not that I’ve seen or met him though.”

“He wasn’t bad on the eyes, I admit, but he’s a vampire. Not exactly my type.”

Chanyeol grew quiet at that, shifting a little in his seat, he sighed, “It’s been a few days since the last attack… do you think it’s because of the extra surveillance around the usual places for attacks?”

“Could be. Did you talk to Minseok any about the idea of these attacks being done by a hunter?”

Chanyeol shook his head, “Other than backing up your theory on it, no. I’m still thinking that’s the case though. I know that our organization is against the harming of humans, but if they’ve caught wind of Suho’s plans for laws introducing vampires into society, then I have no doubt that they’d take whatever measures necessary to stop it from happening.”

Kris shook his head at the suggestion, but then shrugged, he’d talk about this with Suho, and it just didn’t seem likely that their organization would do something like this. Especially when it came to humans being killed too. “I want to have enough faith in our organization to believe that they didn’t… but there’s something that is slowly waning that faith. I don’t want to think that our organization is killing innocent humans… that’s not the way we were taught…”

Chanyeol nodded, “It wasn’t, but there’s new members in charge now, you know. Granted, it’s the leaders’ grandkids but still, it’s not the same old farts that taught us everything we needed to know. It’s Eric Mun and his cousins now. My parents haven’t said anything off about them, but a lot of the meetings that Eric has, they’ve been behind closed doors.”

“Has your parents said anything about the case that’s going on now? Or have you told them anything?”

Chanyeol shook his head, lowering his gaze to the steering wheel where he gripped tight, “I haven’t. I was hoping to get the case over with so I could brag about catching the killer before telling them anything. The last thing I need is Umma crying over the phone, telling me to be careful, and that she’ll be on a flight here tonight if anything happened to me.”

Kris chuckled, “That is Mrs. Park… I can’t fault you for that though, I haven’t called and told my Mama anything either—”

Chanyeol laughed, “I know, you’d never get off the phone with her because she’d continuously keep asking why you haven’t tied the knot with Yanghwa yet.”

“That’s another reason, yes,” Kris glared, rolling his eyes. Then he sighed, “She said she’s not interested in finding anyone right now. I wouldn’t want to push for anything if it meant that I might end up pushing her away.”

Chanyeol scoffed, “Please, you two are practically a couple right now, just no labels on it. Maybe she’s not interested in _finding_ anyone because she’s already _found_ someone.” He pointed at Kris, “You, you dummy, maybe she’s found you. Hell, you are quite a catch, Kris, not my type though, and she’s a pretty girl, you two were made for one another.”

“That’s too much to hope for,” Kris mumbled, leaving Chanyeol to glare at him again.

“Dude, you sell yourself too short with her. You better snatch her up because she starts making googly-eyes at Suho.” At Kris’s widening eyes, Chanyeol snickered, “Or maybe she should make a move before you start making googly-eyes at Suho. Or hell, both of you can go at him.”

Kris narrowed his eyes, and decided to deny the attraction he felt towards Suho, “Yeah, right. A vampire is not my type… besides that… does Suho even have a lover or girlfriend or boyfriend?”

Chanyeol paused for a moment, wracking his brain, “I haven’t heard anything about him having a lover… surely he’s got a blood bag hanging off his arm though.”

“With him being that old, he wouldn’t need blood as often as a newborn vamp, but I haven’t heard anything of him having someone like that.”

\--

“Sire, they’re still outside, watching the club. No suspicious activity so far has been noticed,” Kai bowed, leaning down to whisper in the vampire’s ear.

Suho nodded, taking another sip from the glass flute, he licked his lips, erasing the evidence of the crimson liquid from his mouth, “At least the officers are taking their jobs seriously then, but I have no doubt that whoever this killer is, they probably know that the clubs are being surveilled now.”

“Jongdae is still at the back door, he’s noted nothing either.”

“Thank you, Kai, you can return to your post. Just keep track of the newbies that come in, vampire and human.”

“Understood, sire.”

Suho watched Kai walk away back towards the entrance of the club, before returning his gaze to the dancefloor as he watched vampire and human alike swaying with the music, the strobe-lights flashing with the beat of the music. His eyes glowed in the shadows of the VIP section that he always sat in. He turned back to the cold blood in the glass flute, then glanced down at the empty seat beside him, the memories of a soft smile from a clueless girl filled his head again.

Yanghwa. He liked her smile.


	4. Chapter Four

Yanghwa walked into her bank that morning to the talk of another murder that had happened not far from their facility. And now that she recalled, it happened not far from one of the night clubs, she wondered if it was one of the clubs owned by Kris’s friend, Junmyeon. But the details of it that she overheard were still strange. The person was killed by a wooden stake through the heart, killed like a vampire would be killed on movies or television shows.

She wondered if the killer was a fanatic of vampire shows or something. Maybe they were a mentally ill individual? Whatever they were, it was starting to get a bit scary, especially with how close it was getting towards the place she worked at.

“Yanghwa, did you heard about the murder? I’ve heard that no one even knows anything about the killer either,” one of her co-workers commented, “Aren’t you friends with an officer? They haven’t said anything?”

She shook her head, “He doesn’t tell me police related stuff, it’s against protocol to do so.”

The co-worker pouted, “Well, you’re no help, you don’t ask him anything about it? Surely, it’s alarming to you too?”

“It is, but I think they’re doing all that they can to try and catch this killer,” she smiled, opening the door to her office, she turned back to her co-worker, “I believe in Kris, he’ll catch this person.” With that, she stepped into her office and began her daily routine of work.

 

Kris sighed in frustration as he rubbed his temple, the latest case on his desk as he went over the photos and the notes that the officers at the time had taken, “This is getting annoying, still no leads, nothing to go on with this victim either. It’s like the killer only exists when they kill and that’s it. Nothing else. No hair, no prints, nothing.”

Chanyeol sat across from him at the desk, flipping through some of the files, he shook his head, “This is getting ridiculous, it’s not going to be long before people are going to start going into hysteria, especially since we can’t provide any information to calm them other than we’re looking into it.”

“Yanghwa was telling me the same when I got up this evening. Saying that her co-workers were becoming more alarmed, and this latest case happened just a few blocks from where she works. It was one of the clubs, but this one wasn’t one of Suho’s. It didn’t even frequent much vampire activity that often, but the killer somehow managed to snag another vampire and human victim.”

Chanyeol hummed, “Since Suho is keeping more of a surveillance over his clubs, I wouldn’t doubt that it’s the reason why the killer decided to strike at this one instead, and who knows? The vampire and human couple could’ve went to this other club, thinking that it was safer? Do you want to check the place out?” 

“I’m thinking of doing some undercover work on the weekend, just to scope everything out from the inside,” Kris commented.

“Minseok is okay with that?”

Kris nodded, “I’ve talked to him about it, I’m going to one of Suho’s clubs just to check it out from the inside.”

 

It was a Sunday night, and it was a rarity to see Kris dressed up in his party clothes. Yanghwa hadn’t seen him in such flashy clothes since their college days when they used to go to some of the parties together. He was in a black, silk button-down shirt and some of the tightest black jeans that Yanghwa had seen him in. His hair was styled up, and he was wearing his earrings and chain necklaces. As her eyes raked over the clothes, she couldn’t help but think how attractive he was.

The blonde hair had always set off his features, something that she secretly liked the first time he said something about trying the hair color out.

“Wow, where are you going dressed up?” Yanghwa asked, toweling her wet hair from the shower she’d just gotten out of.

Kris was fixing the back of the watch onto his wrist when he looked up at her, “I’m doing some undercover work at one of the clubs, _Red Carnation_ , just to scope out the inside of one of the clubs.” Once he fixed his watch, he brushed off his shirt, looking back to Yanghwa, “Do I look ready to party?”

She ran her gaze over his clothes again, coming back to meet Kris’s gaze, a slight blush on her cheeks now, “Y-Yeah, you do. It’s strange seeing you dressed up like this. Reminds me of college.”

Kris smiled at the memory, “At least with this, I won’t be coming home in the morning with a hangover.”

Yanghwa laughed softly, nodding in agreement, “Yeah, I don’t want to clean up hangover sickness in the morning either.” Then her gaze turned serious, “Be careful though, okay, Kris?”

He nodded, “I always am, don’t worry.” He looked down at himself, he had the notion that he was forgetting to take something with him but he couldn’t think of what. He’d packed his cross-necklace under his shirt, his vial of holy water, his stake was tucked in the backside of his pants, covered by his shirt, so he couldn’t think of what he was forgetting.

Throwing on his coat, he left the apartment and made his way to his car that was in the parking garage. He was going solo this evening, Chanyeol had prior plans since it was one of their nights off, Kris figured it had to do with his new boyfriend.

At the club, one flash of his badge to the bouncer at the entrance and he was able to enter the club without any trouble. He found a small table in one of the corners of the club, mostly covered by shadows, and the perfect place to scope out the area for any suspicious activity. He didn’t see Suho in the club that night, at least, he hadn’t spotted him yet.

\--

Yanghwa was in the middle of a movie that she’d found from flipping through the television when she heard a jingle start ringing. Her phone was right beside her on the side table, so it wasn’t her phone. She stood up from the couch and followed the direction of the jingle towards Kris’s room. She rarely ever entered his room without permission but the phone kept ringing, so she pushed open the door and saw the phone lit up from Kris’s bedside table.

Moving over to it, she picked it up to see Chanyeol’s name lit up on the screen, she wondered why Kris left his phone behind unless he forgot about it, which wasn’t surprising. If it wasn’t his keys that he’d forgotten, it was his phone.

She answered the phone, “Chanyeol?”

There was a pause, before that deep voice came across the line, _“Yanghwa? Why do you have Kris’s phone?”_

“He must’ve forgotten it here at the apartment. He said he was going to one of the clubs for some undercover work.”

_“He told me that he was going to, but that he’d take his phone to keep me updated. Just in case that he needed me. I’m not far from the club…”_

“I can take his phone to him, he told me it was the Red Carnation club? I’m pretty sure I know where that is.”

Chanyeol’s voice quickly came across the phone, _“No! No, you stay in where it’s safe, you don’t have to. I can go by there and—”_

“Chanyeol, it’s just down the street, it’s not far from here. I can just run in and give him his phone and dash back out.”

_“Yanghwa, Kris would seriously disapprove of that—”_

“He taught me some maneuvers, I’ll be fine, Chanyeol” she assured. “Enjoy your time with your boyfriend, besides Junmyeon will probably be there too since it’s one of his clubs, I’ll be safe.”

Chanyeol paused at that, hesitating to reply, _“Okay… Yanghwa, you keep me on the phone with you the whole time, got it?”_

She walked out of Kris’s room, grabbing her coat, still in her pajamas as she made her way out of the apartment, “Okay, I’ll keep you on the line, so to pass the time till I get there, tell me about your boyfriend.”

\--

As soon as he’d arrived that night, Suho was informed that there was an officer that was joining the party tonight at the club, and it wasn’t too surprising to learn that it was Kris. Suho passed it off as nothing, simply making his way to his usual spot that he always sat in and calling for a waitress to bring him his drink. He scoped out the crowd, trying to spot the officer, but with so many clubbers dancing to the music and moving back and forth, it hadn’t seen the man yet.

Once the waitress brought back the drink, Suho busied himself with a sip, staring down at the dark thick liquid, wondering why exactly Kris had decided to join the party tonight. He knew that it had to be some undercover work or something of the sort, Kris didn’t seem like the party-type, but if whatever Kris had planned to do work with getting that killer off the streets, Suho could indulge him.

A few minutes later though, a familiar scent filled his nose, a citrusy-scent… kind of like the scent that he got from Yanghwa at the apartment. He looked up and scanned the crowd, eyes widening when he saw the girl in her pajamas and a coat that looked like she was trying to move through the crowd but three individuals were stopping her. Her scent was laced with a slow-growing fear, and he knew why, the three individuals were his own kind. They were forbidden from attacking a person but they could be very persuasive when it came to a quick agreement and a quick meal to follow.

He quickly sat down his drink and stood up, the crowd stepping out of the way of his strides, and he made it up to Yanghwa’s side just as he heard her ask in confusion about a contract?

“Yanghwa, what are you doing here?” He questioned, smiling kindly to her, almost wanting to smirk at the way her body seemed to relax when she saw him.

She glanced back at one of the vampires before looking back him, holding up a phone, “Um, Junmyeon, Kris forgot his phone… I was just coming to give it to him.”

Suho cast a sideways glance at the three vampires at the mention of his real name from the girl, “I see, I’ll help you find him then.” Then he turned to the three vampires, glaring, “She’s with me, you won’t harass her anymore.”

They were quick to bow in apology, and Yanghwa didn’t miss the way that their eyes glowed red for a few seconds. Then she looked over at Junmyeon and his had flashed that same color for a split second before he was turning back to her with that kind smile again.

 _“Yanghwa! Are you still there?!”_ Chanyeol’s voice came over the speaker of the phone, quickly making the girl’s attention fall back to the cellular device.

She raised it back to her ear, “Y-Yeah, I’m still here, Chanyeol. I’m okay now,” Junmyeon’s hand came to rest on the small of her back, leading them through the crowd towards the direction he came from. “Junmyeon is here with me now, I’m safe.”

A loud sigh of relief came across the receiver, “Thank god. Those vamps didn’t hurt you, did they?”

She paused at that, glancing back at the three to see they had disappeared, then she finally witnessed some of the actions going on in the crowd of people dancing and some that were at the bar, there were couples that looked like they were kissing their partners on the neck, but it looked… wrong? There wasn’t any other touching, other than holding, and their lips remained in one spot… and all that kept flashing through her head was the scenes from the current drama she watched.

Jo Jongsuk’s scene where he turned his lover into a vampire stayed in her mind. The kiss on the neck, the biting, and then the drinking of blood.

Junmyeon turned to her, noticing her attention was elsewhere, but the man’s voice was still coming across the phone line. He’d heard the question the man asked, and he could see Yanghwa trying to piece things together. He stopped them, finally drawing her attention, and gently he took the phone from where it was barely up to her ear now.

“Chanyeol? Yanghwa is safe and sound now, I’ll even see to it that she’s taken home in the best of hands after we find Kris. Take care,” he ended the call just as Chanyeol started to respond. His gaze on Yanghwa’s, “Are you okay?”

He heard her gulp, he saw her hesitate at replying, “I, uh… what were those three people? They weren’t… people?” She winced, but still confused, how else could she describe someone with eyes that glowed red, that kept asking about a contract, and even said something like a blood virgin before Junmyeon stepped up to her. “They kept talking about weird things,” she shook her head, a nervous laugh falling from her lips then stopped, gaze lowering, “I get that some clubs are very strange, there’s a lot of stuff that people do that’s considered weird, but I don’t—then Chanyeol asked if the _vamps_ hurt me…” she looked back up at Junmyeon, “I keep thinking of Jo Jongsuk’s vampire drama… but that’s fiction, vampires aren’t—” she was silenced by an ice-cold finger pressing to her lips.

“Let’s find Kris and he’ll sort all of this out for you, okay, Yanghwa?” He led her back to the VIP section he was sitting at, offering her a seat before he snapped his fingers in the air. A short, black haired, dark skinned man swiftly came to his side, bowing. “Find Kris Wu and bring him here _now_.”

Yanghwa watched the man almost disappear from sight with how fast he left them, “That’s your bodyguard?”

Junmyeon nodded, “That was Kai, he’s my best servant,” he stared at her for a moment, trying to breathe in the different emotions coming from the girl, he still smelled a small tinge of fear, not as much now, and so much confusion. He decided to try and lighten up the atmosphere, he knew that others were listening in, especially once she’d spoken his real name, and he stated that she was with him.

It would spread like wildfire now amongst the undead society that the great Suho has a lover now, despite it not being true, even though Junmyeon didn’t mind fancying the idea of it.

“It’s not too cold for you, is it?” He asked, awkwardly, eyeing the pajamas that she was in, they looked like they’d be warm but not something that’d be warm outside of the house. “I can’t feel the cold so I’m never sure how others—”

“Yanghwa?” Kris’s voice cut him off, moving over to Yanghwa’s side after Kai had escorted him there. The servant bowed towards Suho and disappeared into the crowd again. “What are you doing—oh,” he saw his phone in her grasp, he groaned softly, muttering, “I knew I forgot something earlier.”

Junmyeon and Yanghwa stood up from the couch, Junmyeon glancing back over the crowd before turning to Kris, “Kris, I’m sorry to blow your cover or whatever you’d hope to achieve tonight, but I think you and Yanghwa need to have a serious conversation about… _certain_ things,” the look in Junmyeon’s eyes had Kris looking back over at Yanghwa, looking over her then glancing at the crowd. He turned back to Junmyeon, the vampire nodding towards one of the hallways, “I have backrooms that are soundproof, or you can take her back home and explain everything.”

Kris hesitated, turning back to Yanghwa, he saw the confusion in her eyes and the questions he knew she had bubbling up in her now. Considering there wasn’t any harm to her and that Suho had shown up when he did, he figured nothing bad had happened, other than the encountering of some of the clubbers.

But now he would have to tell her about everything, something that he really did not want to do. He knew how fragile she was when it came to things like this, and he didn’t want to expose her to any of it. Even if Suho managed to get his laws passed to where vampires were part of society…

“Let’s go home, you’re not dressed to be out in the cold tonight,” Kris noted, finally realizing that Yanghwa was still in her pink and gray panda pajamas. “I’ll tell you everything when we get home,” he glanced back at Suho, nodding, “Thank you for looking after her.”

Suho smiled softly, “No trouble at all. Take care, Yanghwa.”

As the two walked out of the club, Suho stared after the two, eyes running over the crowd to meet the curious glances of some of his kind. He knew they’d be talking about those two for weeks upon end, and he knew that they’d come up with any and every kind of conclusion on the relationship between him and the two.

And the fact that Yanghwa spoke his _real_ name.

 

Kris was quiet for most of the ride back to the apartment, the only time he talked was when he called up Chanyeol to let him know about the cancelled plan for the night and confirming that Yanghwa was okay. At least, she seemed like she was okay. She was quiet too, staring out the windshield of his car, and curling into herself against the cold to which Kris turned on the heater to a higher setting.

When they got to the apartment, Kris tossed his keys on the dinning table and was already on his way to slipping into some comfier clothes, preferably his sweatpants and tee. He stepped out of his room to find Yanghwa on the couch, but the television wasn’t on.

She looked up at him, “Kris… what was Junmyeon talking about? Is it to do with what those people at the club were talking about?” Kris sighed to himself and took a seat beside her on the couch, “One of them said something about me being a blood virgin? I was confused by that because… I’m not a virgin?”

“Yanghwa, I know this is going to sound really weird to you and I’m one-hundred percent being honest with you, but those people… did you notice anything strange about their eyes?”

She thought back to them, shaking her head a little then pausing, “Well, not at first, but their eyes and Junmyeon’s eyes flashed red at one another. It was like a glowing red. And then the others at the club that I saw. Are they just fans of vampires or something? Were those contacts? I know there’s a lot of odd things out there in the world and some people have strange kinks but—”

“They were vampires,” Kris stated, “Some of the people at the club were humans, but the others? The ones that had approached you, and even Junmyeon, they’re vampires.” Yanghwa was quiet once he’d said that, he couldn’t tell what was going through her head either from the look on her face. It was blank. “I know it sounds crazy, I do, but I promise you that everything I’m telling you is the truth. There’s a lot of scary things that walk the world at nighttime, which is why I stressed so much to you that I’d preferred you having a day-shift job and was safe at home by the time nighttime came. I didn’t want anything happening to you.”

She turned to him, “How do you know about… vampires, Kris? Is that something that they taught you for the police force?”

He shook his head, “I’m a hunter. I hunt vampires that don’t follow the rules. So does Chanyeol. That’s why—”

“That’s why he was so worried about me going out to give you your phone tonight, and he mentioned something about ‘vamps’ earlier when he was still on the phone.”

“He knows how protective I am over you, and you’re like a little sister to him too, he wouldn’t want anything happening to you,” Kris commented, eying Yanghwa’s expression. He thought she’d be more freaked out by the information than she seemed. He opened his mouth to continue, but her question cut him short.

“Then, what’s a blood virgin? That’s what one of the… vampires,” she seemed hesitant at the word, still unsure of it, “called me at the club.”

Kris glanced down at her neck, “They meant that you haven’t been bitten by a vampire yet. At that club, humans go to get fed off of and have sex with vampires. You were a newcomer and they could already smell it on you that no one else had touched you like that.”

She cringed at the thought of being bitten on the neck or getting her blood drunk by a vampire, “That’s… it doesn’t hurt to get bitten by a vampire?”

Kris shrugged, “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never let one bite me, but I’ve heard some humans say it doesn’t hurt. If it’s a bite during sex or one that leads up to sex, I’ve heard it’s pleasurable.”

She shuddered, “I can’t see how it doesn’t. In some movies, they show it does hurt a person, but then in others, it doesn’t. It didn’t hurt the girl that Jo Jongsuk bit in his drama…” she shook her head, then she froze, turning to Kris with wide eyes, “Is it a vampire that’s killing those people? Or a vampire… hunter? It was said they were killed by a wooden stake.”

Kris sighed, unsure if he should shrug or shake his head, “We don’t know. We thought it was a vampire at first since they were strong enough to kill another vampire, but since they’re using a wooden stake, we don’t know if it’s a hunter that’s gone rogue.” He stared at her, still trying to come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t freaking out or panicking at the information he was telling her. “Are you okay, Yanghwa? I know this can probably be too much for you to handle—”

She laughed softly, shaking her head, but now Kris had noticed it, her movements were a bit jerky, her fingers trembled where she gripped the blanket, but she brushed it off, “I’m fine, Kris. I’m just… I don’t know, I was a bit scared at the club when they approached me… they kept asking about a contract and the talk about the blood virgin. I didn’t know what to think with their questions—”

“In a situation like that, I hope you never end up in a situation like that again, but just tell them no,” he reached over, covering one of her hands with his large one, he could feel the tension as he gripped her hand tight in an attempt to comfort, “There’s rules and laws set into place to keep vampires in line, if you tell them no, then they have to leave you alone. If they don’t, then they have serious repercussions.”

She looked down at their hands, then smiled slightly, looking back up at him, “Just don’t forget your phone again… I’ll stay away from those situations.” He laughed at her attempt of a joke, “I’m glad Junmyeon showed up though.”

“I am too,” Kris had to admit that he was glad that the vampire did show up and save Yanghwa from the situation. When he was escorted to where the two were at the club, he could already see that Junmyeon was sticking close to Yanghwa, almost as if daring anyone to get near her.

 

That night after Yanghwa had retired to bed because it was already reached one in the morning and she had to get up early to go to work, she was having trouble getting to sleep. While she had assured herself that she was safe now that she was back in her home and inside her room, her mind kept her up. Going over everything that Kris had explained and told her.

And then the scene from the club kept going through her mind. The more that she replayed the scene in her head, the more things that she realized that she didn’t notice at first. The one shorter male that had reached out and skimmed his fingers along her neck, the touch was ice cold, just like Junmyeon’s hands felt when she shook his hand. She could remember seeing two slightly longer canine-like teeth on the female that had grinned at her.

The thought that kept her awake though was that they wanted to eat her. She tossed and turned in bed, and the only thought that brought her any kind of ease was the fact that Junmyeon showed up when he did. But the realization that the supposedly fictional beings existed… that there were scares in the night… that there really was beings out there that wanted to suck her and other humans dry.

Suddenly the image of Jo Jongsuk with fangs didn’t sit so well with her. Instead of the charming and handsome man that she’d had sweet dreams about seemed to be more like a nightmare now.

The next day at work, it seemed like everything was in a haze to her. At work, it was like she was on auto-pilot until her boss, Kim Taeyeon, drew her attention.

“Yanghwa, are you okay? You look really pale,” she noted from the doorway of Yanghwa’s office, concern and curiosity in her eyes.

She nodded, looking away from the computer, she hadn’t noticed that she was paler than usual, “Um, yeah, I’m okay… just a bad night last night. I couldn’t get any sleep.”

Taeyeon hummed, “Go take a break and get something to eat. If you don’t feel any better afterwards, I’m sending you home, okay?”

Yanghwa exhaled shakily, maybe her blood sugar was down, maybe that was the reason for her pale appearance and shaky demeanor, “O-Okay.”

The small snack still didn’t help, her mind still in a whirlwind, it didn’t help that the window in the breakroom showed a plain sight of the club that she was at last night, the same club that had been attacked earlier that last week. The memories of last night had her body tensing, the thought that she could’ve been attacked, she could’ve been one of the people that ended up being a victim of the killer going around.

It wasn’t any surprise that Taeyeon did end up sending her home, nothing personal, but she wanted Yanghwa rested up and well to do her job. It wouldn’t go against her, the boss was the one with the final call in these situations. So Yanghwa accepted the decision, promised that she’d return to work tomorrow morning with a clear mind and in better health.

On the bus that she took back to the apartment, her mind was still clouded with so many thoughts of the night before, and the more she thought about it, the more she started to panic. Throwing glances at the others that were on the bus around her, the thought kept running through her head that maybe some of them were vampires. Maybe they were waiting to pounce on someone, someone unsuspecting, someone like she used to be.

But then she shook her head, recalling what Kris said about vampires only being able to come out at night, so she was safe right now as long as the sun was still high in the air. But it still didn’t stop the anxious feeling that she had and kept until she found herself at home, standing in front of Kris’s bedroom door. She had thrown off her shoes at the door, shed out of her suit blazer, and pulled down her hair, and stood in front of Kris’s bedroom door, staring at it warily.

Her eyes were dreary from the lack of sleep that she got last night from tossing and turning, and her energy just seemed to be draining with each passing moment.

She raised her hand to the bedroom door, half-expecting no answer and half-knowing that Kris was still asleep. But Yanghwa knocked anyway, and when no answer came, she quietly opened the bedroom door to find Kris asleep on the bed, on his side like he usually slept, in his arms was the teddy bear he always slept with.

In the past, the two had shared a bed countless times, sometimes when Yanghwa would have nightmares and find her way to Kris’s room to stay with him, and vice versa with Kris. Although it wasn’t as often with Kris that he had nightmares, and it wasn’t as often anymore since they worked different shifts.

She moved over to the bed, and pushed the blankets back, and just as she was about to slip under the covers, Kris’s sleep-muffled voice rang out.

“Yanghwa?” He yawned, rolling over onto his back and glancing at his alarm clock, “What are you doing home, you should be at work?”

She lied down beside him, pulling the blankets up to her chin, “I… I was sent home by Ms. Taeyeon. I, uh… I couldn’t focus on work and I just… I couldn’t sleep last night after what happened at the club. And just… it scared me. It still scares me, the thought of—”

“Hey,” Kris called, interrupting her, shifting to prop himself up on his elbow, looking over at her, “You’re safe, Yanghwa. I know last night scared you, and with what I told you, but you are safe, I promise you.” He moved the teddy bear and moved to pull her to him, to hold her, and he could feel the tension in her body then. “There’s laws in place for vampires for reasons like this, so that you’ll be safe.”

Yanghwa still trembled in his hold, lip wobbling now as Kris whispered over and over again that she was safe, her eyes tearing up as she hid her face in the crook of his neck, “I just… I just keep thinking and that killer that’s out there. It’s like, what if—what if—”

“Yanghwa, I’m here, and as long as I’m here, that killer will never get to you, okay?” Kris pulled back, meeting her gaze and his heart felt like it was in his throat at the sight of her watery eyes, “I’m trained to take down any vampire, and I promise you that you’re safe. I wouldn’t let anything harm you, okay? You’re safe.”

\--

After the sun had started sinking below the horizon, Suho woke up from his sleep, sitting up and throwing off the blankets of his bed. Across the room lied his coffin, the one that he kept around for sentimental purposes. It was just an old wooden box, the signs of time were greatly upon it, it was the same wooden box that he was buried in so many years ago, the signs of the top being broken was still there, where he crawled out of his grave.

He busied himself with getting up and changing clothes, he knew that Kai and Chen would still be fast asleep for another two hours before they could wake up. It was one thing that came with age. The older and stronger the vampire, the better they could withstand the sunlight.

Suho always woke up around seven-ish in the evening and went to sleep around six in the morning. The sun did weaken him as it rose higher and higher in the sky and as it sunk deeper and deeper below the horizon, he grew stronger as the night finally peaked.

The only other vampire that woke when he did was his first child, Baekhyun, his close friend and, practically, brother. The vampire wasn’t as strong as Suho but he was almost as old as him.

From the basement floor, Suho could hear the maids and the servants as they bustled through their daily tasks of upkeeping his mansion as he slept. Once he’d gotten dressed for the day, he took one glance at himself in the mirror, before heading up the stairs and heading to his office room. He wasn’t very surprised to see Baekhyun in his office, seated in his chair behind his desk, drinking warmed blood out of a coffee cup.

The dark red haired vampire glanced up at him, grinning with a sharp-tooth grin, “Good morning, brother.”

Suho moved around the desk to his chair, “Get out of my seat.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, groaning as he got up from the chair and moved over to flop down on the couch, “I heard some interesting rumors about things that happened last night, brother. I guess that’s why you’re in such a bad mood?”

Suho sighed as he sat down in his chair, switching on his laptop, “It was nothing—”

“ _Nothing_?” Baekhyun repeated, stifling a laugh, “She said your name. Your real name. She called you Junmyeon, and then the tall, handsome blonde attached to her? Yeah, I’m sure that was totally nothing.”

The older vampire rolled his eyes, “That tall blonde was a cop _and_ a hunter, your _lover’s_ partner at that,” Baekhyun’s eyes widened at that, “and she’s his roommate. She’s practically clueless about us in general, and the time that I met her when I paid that hunter a little visit, I decided that since the odds of meeting her again were slim, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to introduce myself with my real name.”

“Oh, so that’s who Chanyeol was on the phone with last night,” Baekhyun clicked his tongue, “So she’s friends with two hunters and knows nothing about our existence? How sad.”

Suho shrugged, “She’s…” he didn’t really know what other way to describe Yanghwa other than repeating Kris’s words about her, “fragile. When I met her, she did seem to have an innocence to her, much like that of a child’s.”

Baekhyun hummed, “Still doesn’t mean that you can’t have anything with her.” Then Baekhyun grinned, “Nor does it mean you can’t have something with both of them. If Kris looks any way that Chanyeol described him to me, then he’s your type. Tall, handsome, nice eyes… I bet he’s got a nice package too.”

Suho glared at the younger vampire, scoffing, “I’m not interested.”

“You say that because you haven’t had a warm dick in you for so long, and you haven’t had a nice warm home to bury yourself in either. You’ve never had any partners in all the centuries that I’ve known you.” Baekhyun’s tone turned soft, “Don’t you get lonely?”

“I’m too busy working on my empire to get lonely, I don’t have needs like you do with your various partners. How long until you grow bored with your current fling?”

Baekhyun shrugged, “I may be interested in turning him, I know he’s a hunter, but Chanyeol isn’t one of those ruthless bastards. He’s got a heart, a heart that’s so big, and I already know I’m in it.”

Suho turned back to his laptop, opening the email replies that he’s sent out to some of the politicians, “But has he earned a spot in your cold and dead one?”

“As odd as it sounds, he has.”

Suho threw a small glance at the vampire to see him staring up at the ceiling, a look in Baekhyun’s eyes that Suho hadn’t seen before, he sighed turning back to his computer, “Just be careful. With that killer out there, you two need to be careful, especially if they’re targeting humans and vampires that are connected to one another.”


End file.
